11/25/2024
BY JACK BULLOCK
CARBONDALE - When it comes to the world of sports there are always heartaches and disappointments because, as in life, there are winners and there are losers.

The French phrase is “c'est la vie” which translates to “such is life.”

Last season the two top teams in the National Trail Conference were all set to head to the 1A sectional as both were favored to win their respective regionals.

Unfortunately, neither advanced.

The state's top ranked team at the time, Effingham St. Anthony, and top-seed Altamont, were on a collision course the would have happened at the St. Anthony Sectional semifinals.

Instead both were taken out in regional title games.

The Bulldogs were shocked in overtime by Arcola at the Okaw Valley Regional while the Indians, playing on their own floor, felt the upset sting by visiting Webber Township.

The Purple Riders sent St. A back home with a 57-52 overtime loss while the Trojans, led by ABV 1A “Player of the Year” Nathaniel Marlow, sent Altamont home with a 57-45 defeat.

It is part of the allure of high school athletics as you just never know what is going to happen.

None of the other National Trail teams made it to regional title games, which was a disappointing end to a promising campaign considering how well this leagues has performed in non-conference games in the most recent memory.

Of the nine NTC members only one team (Neoga) failed to reach double-digits in wins while four of the program's topped 20-victories.

Dieterich and St. Elmo/Brownstown were the others besides St. Anthony and Altamont.

For the campaign that approaches, look for the Dawgs and the Tribe to again be in the thick of the race.

While St. Anthony has a bunch of talent coming back for Coach Cody Rincker to work with, Altamont mentor Coach John Niebrugge has his work cut out for him as six seniors left after graduation in the spring.

Dieterich had a strong season a year ago and they possess four returning starters from a 24-7 season for Coach Brent Bohnhoff.

The Movin' Maroons haven't snagged an NTC title since they shared the crown with St. A back in 2017-18 but this could be their year.

St. Elmo/Brownstown also had some graduation losses for Coach Greg Feezel after another 20-win season.

To find the last league regular season championship for the Eagles one must turn back time to 1987-88 to find where St. Elmo won the title on their way to a fourth place finish in the state.

Coach Feezel was a top player on that squad.

North Clay and head coach Josh Zink look to get back on track after dropping below .500 for the season.

The Cardinals have a key transfer in and some kids to work with against a pretty salty schedule.

South Central also sent a couple of good ones down the aisle at graduation but return most of the roster from last season for Coach Blake Doehring to work with.

Windsor/Stewardson-Strasburg will likely have some say in what happens in the division as they have a pair of returning vets and others ready to move up for Coach Shane Smith.

CHBC and head coach Tanner Thompson also dropped a pair of players off at the graduation ceremony last spring but the other Bobcats return for 2024-25.

Neoga brought up the cellar last season with just six victories for the Indians and head coach Andrew Snow.

Five seniors and a junior, who were a part of the learning curve last winter, return.

This season looks to be a bit more open with St. Anthony once again being a favorite.

Although it won't be necessarily a rebuilding project, the Altamont Indians and head coach John Niebrugge will need to replace a boat load of points and minutes from a year ago.

Lost from that team are six seniors.

ABV all-south pick Kaidyn Miller is gone via graduation as well as classmates Aden McManaway, Eli Miller, Dillan Elam, Alec Jahraus and Kaden Davis.

That is the bulk of the varsity minutes played in the 2023-24 campaign.

The Tribe were all set to get ready for a second straight trip to the sectional semifinals and a potential showdown with conference rival St. Anthony.

But Webber Township had other plans as they took care of the Indians and celebrated the win on the Altamont home floor.

In the past two seasons Coach Niebrugge, who is entering his 13th season at Altamont, sent away a total of 13 seniors so the minutes ahead are up for grabs for the ones moving up.

Only one starter returns from the 21-9 club.

Kade Milleville, a 6-3 junior, notched some good numbers as a sophomore, averaging 7.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Six-six senior Ben Roedl will now get a chance to move up.

He came off the bench a season ago and contributed.

Roedl is a state ranked track athlete, placing in the high jump, long jump and triple jump last spring.

The rest have either zero or a modicum of varsity time spent so this will be a learning situation across the board.

Five-seven senior Alex Walker will move up from the junior varsity to the "big show" as will 6-2 senior forward Tyler Ruffner.

Both were prominent junior varsity players.

Cooper Pals, a 6-0 junior guard, also is ready take on a more important role after starting JV in 2023-24.

Two other sophomores and a freshman are on the list of potential players.

Coach Niebrugge mentioned 6-2 sophomore forward Zaine Miller, who started junior varsity as a freshman.

Six-two sophomore guard Parker Bell and 6-1 freshman Cooper McManaway will be a part of the varsity.

Brayden Elam, a 6-1 junior guard and 6-2 junior forward Jacob Johnson will also be possible for important minutes.

“This may be the most inexperienced team I’ve had at Altamont. With only one starter, who didn’t start until mid-season, and one other letter-winner coming back this team will be learning how to play at the varsity level all year. By season’s end, we should be running on all cylinders. Although inexperienced, we are blessed to have plenty of shooters and scorers. Shot selection and patience, along with the speed on both ends of the court will be something the coaches and I will need to develop. For most of the year, these fellas will need to rely on defense and rebounding and all-out effort to get a few wins against a very good schedule,” said Coach Niebrugge, a Teutopolis grad who is 264-95 in his 12-years at Altamont.

When Coach Josh Zink opens his preseason practices and begins preparation for the North Clay Cardinals' 2024-25 season he knows there are a lot of kids to work with.

According to this mentor, this will be his deepest team in his tenure at the school.

North Clay fell to 13-18 last season with a semifinal loss to Altamont in the regional but nearly everyone returns and will continue to work.

Coach Zink listed four juniors who played last season and return.

Six-one junior Cody Zimdars was a second team all-NTC last winter.

Carter Walden, a 6-5 junior, made the honorable mention list for the league.

Mason Byers, a 6-1 junior, also played a lot last winter.

A new addition to the club is a transfer in from nearby Cisne.

Kade Atwood, a starter for the Runnin' Lions a season ago, went from North Wayne to North Clay and brings a bunch of varsity experience to the Cardinals.

Coach Zink also mentioned 6-0 senior Gavin Hosselton as one of the top five.

Another senior who came off the bench last season is Luke Brown, a 6-1 forward.

North Clay also has two sophomores who played a bunch of varsity in 2023-24.

Six-three Lucas Griffey and 5-9 Lane Wolfe should be hungry for more minutes this season.

“Our team was a very young team last season. At times, we had four sophomores and a freshman on the court, which gave us valuable experience despite the challenges it created,” said Coach Zink. “Now, we’ve grown and with four of our five starters returning and a strong summer of development behind us, we believe we can compete at a high level. Although we still have a young roster, we have been quite battle-tested from last season. The time is now for us and if we stay healthy we are excited about the possibilities of a strong season ahead for our Cardinals,” said Coach Zink.

Dieterich lost just three seniors from last season and four of the starters for the Movin' Maroons return from a 24-7 club that were taken out of the postseason by host Edwards County in the semifinals of the regional.

The top-seeded club lost to the #9 Lions, which ended the season.

But that was then and this is now.

Coach Brent Bohnhoff has kids back to try and make another postseason run while challenging for National Trail Conference titles in both the regular season and the annual league tournament.

The four starters returning have loads of PT and the varsity level experience.

Six-two senior guard/forward Lucas Westendorf cruised right past the 1,000-point plateau last winter and should add to that total this season.

Westendorf posted numbers of 15.5 points and 6.5 rebounds for Dieterich, which are impressive against the schedule of tough games in the NTC.

Westendorf is on course to break the school's all-time career scoring mark set by Richard Thomas in 1963-64 of 1,700-points.

Thomas played Division I basketball at Kansas University.

He is one of the team leaders for Coach Bohnhoff.

Landen Keck, a 6-0 senior, prepped his first two seasons at Cisne before transferring to Dieterich for his junior season.

Keck added 12.7 points to the club last winter and he is also over 1K in career points and was a deadeye from the foul line (84 percent).

Both of them proved last season that they can be difficult to defend.

Tanner Will, a 6-0 senior guard, played both point guard and the two during his junior campaign and is a big asset for the Movin' Maroons.

Six-two senior Jaxon Funneman gives Dieterich a physical presence inside the paint on both ends of the floor.

This coach is very happy about the depth of the squad.

Six-two junior Brock Niemerg is a guard that will be in play for the fifth starting slot.

Also Ezra Cook, a 6-3 sophomore, has shown marked improvement according to Coach Bohnhoff.

Add 6-3 freshman guard/forward Bryce Bohnhoff (coaches' son) to the formula as well as Tanner Niemerg, a 6-3 junior to the bench strength along with 6-0 senior Braylon Williams.

“We will be returning four starters from our 24-7 team and we had a strong summer going 20-2,” said Coach Bohnhoff. “Our team will have experienced upperclassmen, mixed with some young up and coming players that we are excited about. We feel really good about this team, mostly because of the leadership from our top seniors.”

Two seniors are missing from the South Central Cougars' squad that finished 15-16 overall and 3-5 in the National Trail Conference a year ago.

Guard Max Magnus and forward Jacob Smith have left, suiting up for the final time in the Cougars' 62-53 defeat at the hands of conference rival North Clay at the 1A Altamont Regional.

Coach Blake Doehring will have several suitors for starting assignments and bench minutes heading into this season.

Eight seniors were listed by Coach Doehring.

Six-foot senior guard Brody Markley, a 6-0 senior guard, was listed as a starter for the Cougars.

The same can be said for 6-0 sophomore guard Westin Neilson.

Kage Hiestand, a 6-1 senior guard, 6-2 senior forward Seth Bergmann, and 6-0 senior forward Callaway Smith are the projected first game starters for South Central.

Coming off of the bench will be 6-1 senior forward Lucas Bursott, Jalen Smith, a 6-1 forward, 5-10 senior guard Evan Hoover, 5-8 senior guard Lucian Amos and Seth Jones 6-3 senior forward.

Two juniors; 5-10 guard Trevan Sidwell and 6-0 guard Hudson Moore, are part of the mix.

“For us to be successful, we will have to defend, take care of the ball, and rebound,” said Coach Doehring. “I like our group. We just need to find some consistent scoring.”

It wasn't a great season by any measuring stick for the Neoga Indians in 2023-24.

Coach Andrew Snow and his club suffered through a 6-23 campaign, dropping a first round regional game to Martinsville at the 1A Casey-Westfield Regional while not winning a league contest (0-8).

The Indians do have kids back to hopefully improve this winter.

Coach Snow mentioned that he has four starters returning, which is a good place to start the rebuilding.

Six-five senior Luke Keller returns after posting some modest numbers as a junior (4.1 points per game).

Landon Titus, a 6-3 senior, begins the season as a starter for the third consecutive season.

Six-two senior Gavin Ray started games last winter, pitching in 6.2 p.p.g.

Carter Young, a 5-10 senior guard, is a good defender according to Coach Snow.

Two additional players; 6-3 senior Kyle Will and 6-0 junior Ayden White, are two that this coach is hoping for contributions from.

The underclassman appear to be ready to advance up to important minutes.

Six-three sophomore Brayden Ray and 6-3 classmate Kaden Bryant will add size to the lineup and 5-10 sophomore Cayden Hakman has offensive upside.

Coach Snow mentioned two freshmen; 6-0 Grady Haarman and 6-4 Garret Ballinger who will get an opportunity to compete for varsity playing time.

“We have an interesting mix of guys returning and underclassman looking for their first taste of varsity basketball. I think we will have many different lineup looks early on trying to figure out what combination works for this group. We have good size and length but we lack some physicality inside. We struggled shooting the ball last season, we spent some time working on that this summer in hopes that it will pay off. I think we will be able to defend well enough to keep ourselves in ball games we are just going to be looking for the guys to step up and score for us. I think as the season goes on we will have 8-10 guys fighting for varsity playing time regardless of their experience and year in school,” said Coach Snow.

The recovered from a six-game losing streak early in the 2023-24 season to be much more respective in the last part of the season.

A 12-18 mark with a 2-6 record in the NTC wasn't what the coaching staff was hoping for but there are kids back who will try to improve.

The Hatchets lost to Nokomis in the first round of the Okaw Valley Regional.

Three seniors from last winter are missing but the returning unit could flip the switch and get back above .500.

Jackson Gurgel, a 6-1 senior, is back for the Hatchets.

Another senior returning is 5-11 Blayzz Verdeyen along with classmate 6-2 Rylan Rincker,.

A trio of juniors will be available with 5-9 Seth Rincker, 6-1 Aiden Sayers and 6-2 Tyler Vonderheide ready.

Coach Smith added to the list two sophomores; 6-5 Brody Bible and 5-8 Jakob Gurgle.

“We will be playing with a bigger and more athletic lineup this year especially on the front-line where I expect to be improved on our overall rebounding ability,” said Coach Smith.

Head coach Tanner Thompson should be proud of the accomplishments as they play a pretty strong schedule in both the NTC and EIC.

Last season the Bobcats ended up just short of the .500 mark at 15-17, sharing the title of the Egyptian Illini with rival St. Elmo/Brownstown and 4-4 in the National Trail.

Some seniors left the building after graduation; Carson Evans, Clayton Wojcik and Gage Lorton from the team that lost to regional champ Arcola, 53-41, at the 1A Okaw Valley Regional.

The ones returning for Coach Thompson look to continue the improvement for the program.

Five-nine senior Kaidyn Calame is a returning starter.

Both of those kids contribute on both ends of the floor.

Coach Thompson calls 6-3 senior Wyatt Rueff “the best rebounder I have ever coached and runs the floor well.”

Another starter for CHBC is August Cosart, a 5-10 junior.

Five-nine junior Clive Schlanser is back along with 6-5 classmate Gage Hart.

Ben Askins, a 5-11 junior, and senior Hunter Pope are also in the conversation.

Six-three senior AJ Radloff give the Bobcats more size.

Coach Thompson have what he calls a special group of sophomores to add to the depth.

Five-ten Carter Dilley, 6-0 Remington Howell, 6-3 Porter Lilly, 6-1 Hayden Sarver, and 5-10 Griffin Vaughn should all earn playing time.

“I look forward to a stellar season this year. We have so many coming back from last season. We will be big and our sophomore class is absolutely outstanding. They really push the tempo they will get minutes as well. Freshman class is eager to get ready and are no joke either. It looks to be a great season,” said Coach Thompson.

Last season was a 22-10 finish, 4-4 in the National Trail Conference and 4-1 in the Egyptian Illini.

The Eagles won both the Mulberry Grove Thanksgiving Tournament and their own Holiday Tournament.

However late in the season SEB lost five of their final nine contests, including a semifinal defeat to eventual regional champ Webber Township.

Coach Feezel lost first team ABV all-south pick Adam Atwood along with seniors Josiah Maxey, Collin Maxey, Cade Schaub and Brody Mason.

All are done with prep basketball after graduating in the spring.

But, as usual, there will be others ready to step up to the plate.

Lowell Wilhour, a 5-9 senior, will be one of the guards returning for the Eagles.

Five-nine senior Vadim Plum is back along with 5-10 senior Gavin Sanders.

Trenton Monet, a 6-3 senior, returns along with 6-1 junior Jaden Hughett and 5-11 sophomore Graidon Wilhour.

“This team played well this summer. They will work hard for us and hopefully that will translate into wins,” said Coach Feezel. “We will be very inexperienced on the varsity level but we showed this summer we can play with a lot of the better teams. Time will tell on this team.”